COLUMBUS – Police are investigating the death of a man who was found inside a vehicle after it crashed into a Southeast Side apartment building Sunday afternoon, sparking a fire.
CORRECTION: This article has been edited to reflect that police did not confirm the deceased victim had been shot.
SHOOTING-HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION:
Yesterday-1/12/20@4:22pm-officers responded to 6391 Georges Creek Dr. (SE Cbus) on the report of a vehicle striking a building…
Investigation continues. This is the city’s 8th homicide in 2020.
CPD:614-645-4730 mhuffman@columbuspolice.org pic.twitter.com/jMqYb1t75Z
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) January 13, 2020
When officers arrived at 6391 Georges Creek Drive at 4:22 p.m. they found the vehicle and the building in flames, said Homicide Unit Sgt. David Shimberg.
Witnesses who initially reported the crash told police they heard gunshots in the area prior to the accident.
Columbus firefighters extinguished the fire and found the driver of the vehicle still inside where he was pronounced dead, Shimberg said.
The second victim, Todd Hammond Jr., who was also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting fled the vehicle after the accident and Shimberg says he only suffered minor injuries.
Police said they had no additional information early Monday and were withholding the name of the dead man until positive identification could be determined, Shimberg said.
They also did not say what caused the man’s death but were treating the death as a homicide.
The investigation continues.
This is the eighth homicide in Columbus in 2020.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.